Image: Vasep / FIS

Seafood Enterprises 'Particularly Concerned' About Newly Issued Decree 37/2024/NĐ-CP

VIET NAM
Thursday, April 25, 2024, 07:00 (GMT + 9)

On April 4, 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 37/2024/ND-CP (Decree 37), effective from May 19, 2024, supplementing a number of articles of Decree 26/2019/ND-CP dated March 8, 2019 of the Government detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Fisheries Law. On April 5, 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 38/2024/ND-CP (Decree 38), effective from May 20, 2024, regulating administrative sanctions in the field of fisheries. The content of the two decrees mentioned above has many new points, including many regulations directly related to the enforcement of fisheries laws by seafood export enterprises.

Source: Vasep

Therefore, on April 23, 2024 in City. Ho Chi Minh City, VASEP Association organized a conference to disseminate a number of new regulations in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP and 38/2024/ND-CP for member businesses.

In the new contents of the two decrees above, seafood businesses are especially interested in a number of regulations that make businesses anxious and worried about compliance because there are many inadequacies and unreasonable points.

Source: Vasep

1. Inadequacies in Decree 37/2024/ND-CP, amendments and supplements to Article 70 related to Control of foreign vessels exploiting, transporting and transshipping aquatic products and aquatic products originating from fishing The waterfall arrives at Vietnam's port. At the same time, Decree 37 supplements Article 70a on control of aquatic products and aquatic products originating from exploitation transported by container ships imported into Vietnam.

Accordingly, businesses believe that it is not feasible to comply with the regulations on notification and declaration of documents 72 hours before docking for foreign ships and 48 hours for container ships as prescribed in the above two articles. Because both of these timelines are too long, not suitable for short transport routes of ships and containers, because many businesses import raw materials from Southeast Asian countries, the time for ships to transport goods to Vietnamese ports is less than 2 full days (48 hours). With goods imported by container, only when the goods are on board the ship at the port of export will the enterprise have information to make documents and documents, so the importing enterprise has no way to declare 48 hours or 72 hours in advance as prescribed. determined. Therefore, businesses believe that it would be more appropriate to stipulate notification before customs clearance instead of notification before arrival at the port.

Source: Maersk

In addition, businesses request to clarify which "competent authority" they will have to report/declare to, and also request unification of the declaration form, because in Article 70a, it is required to declare information about the shipment. according to Form No. 17B.KT, Appendix IV issued under the Decree, but this form is not included in the appendix, instead there is form 25.

The requirement to submit a captain's certificate is also a complicated and difficult procedure for importing enterprises, because the content of the captain's certificate must show information about the vessel exploiting seafood and aquatic products. products imported into Vietnam, including: Ship name, ship registration number (IMO/international call sign/outer marking/RFMO registration number if any), flag country, fishing license number, type of fishing gear, exploitation time and exploitation area, date and location of the vessel's first landing, which confirms that aquatic products are exploited in full compliance with current laws, management and conservation measures. exist. With so many contents, it is difficult for importers to respond and businesses may lose their source of supply because of this complicated procedure.

2. Article 70b, Section 6, Point c of Decree 37 stipulates: Do not mix aquatic raw materials originating from imported exploitation with aquatic raw materials originating from domestic exploitation into the same shipment. export. Meanwhile, Decree 38/2024/ND-CP only mentions penalties for mixing aquatic materials originating from domestic exploitation but does not mention the phrase "same export shipment".

Source: Stockfile FIS

This regulation is causing confusion for businesses because they do not know how the concept of "mixing materials" in the same shipment is understood correctly? Because the above two decrees and the current Fisheries Law also do not have a specific definition of the act of "mixing materials". In fact, for seafood enterprises, it is completely normal to produce finished products of a shipment with raw materials from many species, many items, from different sources such as exploitation and import, as long as the enterprise can access them. Know the origin of the product, have all the SC, CC papers...

Typically, many seafood businesses produce mixed goods or typical value-added products such as skewered seafood including raw materials from tuna, file fish... some species originate from domestic exploitation, some species come from imported sources. , although each type of raw material can be traced, the "do not mix raw materials" regulation in Decree 37 makes businesses worried.

Some businesses are concerned with the concept of "mixing raw materials", because most businesses export "finished" seafood, not "raw" seafood.

Source: Stockfile FIS-->

Furthermore, the EU's recommendation is: do not fraudulently exchange imported materials and domestically exploited materials, not prohibit mixing materials. Therefore, businesses need to clarify the concept of mixing raw materials in this clause, otherwise businesses cannot escape violations.

In addition, regarding the declaration/declaration responsibilities of enterprises mentioned in Decree 37, enterprises recommend that the implementation of declaration procedures should be simplified with a software to reduce time and effort. for businesses in this matter.

Faced with the above concerns and worries, seafood businesses are looking forward to relevant authorities to soon support them to help them properly understand and comply with the regulations in Decree 37.

Author: Le Hang | Vasep (Translated from the original in Vietnamese)

[email protected]
www.seafood.media

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